


Face Off

by merelypassingtime



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Fluff, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 23:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17518235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merelypassingtime/pseuds/merelypassingtime
Summary: Venom and Eddie face down their most fearsome foe yet...





	Face Off

Situational awareness was another one of the skills that a good field journalist needed to cultivate. So, as soon as he stepped onto the trolley, Eddie did a quick evaluation of the other passengers, looking for threats or, more importantly, good stories.

Pickings were slim this late in the evening, just the requisite homeless guy sprawled across the back bench, loudly snoring, and a mother and child sitting at the front. From the women’s exhausted, listless stare out the front of the trolley and the loaded backpack next to the quietly coloring girl, Eddie guessed it custody trade.

He chose his own seat across from them and as far from the homeless man as possible, sitting down just as the car jerked back into motion and pulling out his phone to check his email. 

As he did he felt Venom stirring, heralded by the odd prickle from the back of his neck that meant the symbiote was poking his head out from Eddie’s skin. Without looking up from his phone, Eddie pulled up his hood, giving Venom a hidden spot to perch in.

He felt a little pressure against his cheek before a voice, no less deep for being soft, whispered in his ear, **Hungry, Eddie.**

Switching to a new text message, Eddie typed out, “What else is new? Tots when we get home, k?”

Venom grumbled, **Bad guys right now would be better.**

“Tough. Tots or nothing.”

**Fine. Pussy.**

Eddie tried to type ‘Parasite’ back, but the autocorrect turned it into, “Pear cite” which was pretty tame as far as insults go. He quickly exited the message, trying to prevent Venom from seeing it, but a rumbling laugh let him know that he had failed. Ignoring the chuckling, he turned his attention back to his email.

It was several minutes and a dozen emails later that Eddie noticed the indefinible sense of something wrong. Venom, who usually filled his head with endless questions, color commentary, or complaints, had been troublingly quiet. It was that same ominous quiet known to the parents of a two-year-olds, where deep down you know that your current peace is the calm before an impending storm. And, like those parents, it was the laughter of a child that finally brought his attention to the trouble.

He looked up briefly, just long enough to glimpse the little girl sitting across from them with her face scrunched up in an exaggerated grimace, her tongue sticking out and her fingers holding the corners of her eyes pulled tight. When he went to look again a second later, the girl was innocently coloring in her book again.

Too innocently.

Pretending to go back reading this emails, he kept the girl in his peripheral vision, planning to catch her next movement. However, that next move ended up coming from a lot closer to him in the form of a black shape peeking out from underneath the hood of his jacket. He turned his head quickly, catching the symbiote with his lips sealed shut over his teeth, his cheeks puffed out until his small head was nearly as round as a small black balloon.

Another laugh from across the way drew his eye back the the girl, who quickly hid the laugh behind her hand and looked back down at her book. 

He looked from her, back to where Venom was starting to sink back into his skin, radiating embarrassment and shame, and what else could he do? Eddie stuck out his own tongue, touching it to the tip of his nose while crossing his eyes.

The girl, who had been furtively watching him, responded by giggled wildly, and Eddie lost the face he was making to a very genuine smile of his own.

The next several minutes flew by as they traded funny faces back and forth. The girl’s repertoire was limited, but working together Eddie and Venom were able to keep her easily entertained. 

When the mother finally roused from her thoughts, looking away from the front of the trolley and telling the girl to pack up, Eddie was sorry to see her go. Both he and Venom waved goodbye as the girl stepped off at the next stop.

**That was fun,** Venom said.

“Yeah, it was,” Eddie agreed. “I’ve always liked kids.”

**You want one of your own.**

Eddie shrugged. “I did, but that’s okay. I don’t need one. You’re everything I need, love. Besides, kids are a lot of work, and they’re always sticky.”

**I do not think our children will be sticky.**

“Our children? _Will be?_ ” Eddie asked.

Venom ignored the question, saying instead, **We missed our stop.**

“I know. But, hey! Maybe we’ll get lucky and someone’ll mug us on the way back.”

**Yes! Hungry!** Venom exclaimed. 

Eddie smile again, the comment about their children slipping out of his mind, replaced with Venom’s enthusiasm for a late night snack.


End file.
